The final moments of Dorcas Meadowes
by crimsonnature
Summary: I have always wanted to know more about Dorcas Meadows, and as such had written a short fic on her final moments as how I feel her character would be like. "That's Dorcas Meadowes, Voldemort killed her personally..."


It was midnight, it was winter and Dorcas Meadowes was standing alone within the shadows of a hedge, alternating between fidgeting around to stay warm and checking her watch. It was 15 minutes until the cut off time, and she was getting concerned the mission she was here to complete would have to wait for another evening. She heard a small noise to her left and she span, with her gripping her wand tight enough that she thought it could snap at any minute. She heard a whispered "Flobberworms" and she sighed in relief as she saw Remis Lupin stepping out of the shadows.

"Moony." Dorcas fluttered her eyelashes at Remis suggestively. You took you time, but I am so glad you didn't chicken out."

Remis grinned a boyish grin back at her. "We may have had to make a slight, well, detour if you will forgive us. But judging by how late it is, that is a story for another time."

"And not even a glance in my direction." Sirius Black sighed stepping out of the shadows. "You wound me Dorcas."

"Oh you know the bad boy just isn't my types Sirius, no chance in hell I'm becoming one of those doe eyes girls trailing after you." She laughed as she scanned the shadows behind the boys. "Where is James, and Peter for that matter?" She looked back at Remis sharply.

"The Potter's have had to go into hiding." Remis' face was now grim. "Dumbledore decided it was no longer safe with You-know-who so hell bent on finding James, Lily and Harry."

Dorcas smiled tightly at Sirius. "I'll bet you've been giving James crap for staying out of the action."

Sirius laughed. "I can't help that he's so easily wound up. It's like shooting fish in a barrel."

She rolled her eyes and looked back at Remis. "And Peter?"

"Dumbledore again." A look of concern furrowed Remis' brow. "For some reason he wants Peter away from the front line at this present time."

Dorcas thought she saw a knowing look flit across Sirus' face before he smoothed it back into a look of nonchalance. "That man.." Dorcas shook her head as she looked at Sirius quizzically. "I guess we will have to keep the faith that he knows what he is doing."

"You sure you're ready for tonight then Dorky?" Sirius raised his arms and cracked his knuckles before running his hand through his disheveled hair. "It could get messy."

"Don't patronise me Sirius, I'll bet I'm more prepared then you are." She growled back at him.

Remis sighed in exasperation. "Enough of the competition for one evening, we are already a few short and Mad Eye thinks we will only have a window of the next hour. We need to jump into gear."

That statement quickly sobered both Sirius and Dorcas quick smart. "Obviously we are going to need to split up. Let's keep meet up the same though, this spot in 45 minutes, with the cut off to leave at 60. No exceptions." Dorcas looked sternly at the boys through the shadows.

"See you on the other side then." Sirius raised his eyebrows suggestively and disappeared into the night.

Dorcas rolled her eyes at Remis. "Always keen to play the hero. Stay safe Lupin." She turned walked away into the field as Lupin whispered. "Same to you."

Her heart was already pounding harder as she made her way stealthily through through the dark field, using a fence for guidance. She knew once she hit a small pond she would need to make a sharp left and would soon hit the house of the death eater they were trying to get information on. This was a regular occurrence for order of the Phoenix members and yet, Dorcas still got the same rush as she did on the first mission Dumbledore had sent her on. Once she hit the pond she turned left, continuing on for another few minutes before she hit the back of the property she was intending to try and infiltrate.

She took at deep breath and told herself the same thing she did on every mission. _Think brave. _Most of the time she didn't feel very brave, but the reminder helped her to keep her cool and do what needed to be done. On that note she crouched down and started making her way towards the house muttering enchantments as she moved, checking for any preventative spells. She kept on in this manner until she reached the house after hitting no barriers. She hesitated at the door. This just didn't sit right with her Auror training, or with everything she had learnt so far about Voldemort and his band of merry men, as she liked to refer to them.

She looked at her watch weighing up her options. Something was wrong, she knew that much, but she still had 30 minutes till their meeting time. She also knew that Mad Eye was confident about their window of opportunity, but to have encountered no problems at all seemed simply too convenient. Dorcas decided that there were only two likely possibilities. One, that there was nothing of importance in this house, and as such no need to protect it. Or two, that this was some sort of trap and there were death eaters or worse beyond the door. The logical thing, she thought, would be to walk away, call it a bust and meet up with boys in the hope that they had more luck. Dorcas gritted her teeth when she thought of what Sirius would say when he heard she walked away.

She muttered under her breath "Homenum revelio." Instantly she knew there were people inside the house, who may now be aware of her presence. _Shit_, was all she could think as she made her way hastily back into the night. Dorcas was a proud woman, but not stupid one. She would take the backlash of Sirius Black over going up against more Death Eaters than any skilled witch or wizard could handle with no backup.

Just as she was about at the back of the property, and when she thought she was in the clear she felt her wand fly out of her hand and her feet fly out from under her. Within a second she was back on her feet, spinning around to see 1 unmasked and 6 masked men surrounding her, but she only had eyes for the one in the middle. If she had not heard of how much he had deteriorated, of how much of a monster he had become, she never would have recognized Lord Voldemort from the pictures that she has seen of him. She felt the air fly out of her lungs as she took an unconscious step back.

"Dorcas." He smiled through a tight grin, his eyes narrowed into slants. "What a pleasant surprise."

"I wish I could say the same." She growled out, her eyes scanning, looking for any way out, anything that would help her without her wand.

"You're not here alone are you?" He started walking slowly towards her. "That would be most disappointing if so, there are a few of your friends who I was also hoping to meet."

She held her chin up and continued to glare at him when he suddenly yelled. "Crucio!" She writhed on the ground, every cell in her body burning, screaming, she had no control over the gurgling noised strangling out of her mouth, there were no room for any thoughts, no room for anything but the overwhelming pain. As suddenly as it started it stopped. She put two hands on the ground, and pushed herself up, breathing heavily.

"You will answer if you are spoken too." He snarled at her. "Time to show some respect."

She gritted her teeth and glared up at him. "That would insinuate I had some respect to begin with. So no, thanks, I don't think I will." This time she felt a slash of heat across her face as she fell back to the floor. She slowly put her hand to her cheek and raised it to the moonlight, it was covered in blood. She looked back to see the men around Voldemort smirking, but the man himself had eyes as cold as ice.

"Always so quick with wit, Dorcas." He shook his head. "That much I remember. But unless you are going to talk about your precious order, your words won't help you now." He started walked around her slowly, clearly relishing the power in the situation.

"You are probably wondering why I am here, why I did not leave this particular trap to my death eaters to take care of. I had heard from my sources that your little friend James might be here." He grinned menacingly as he saw the look of shock upon Dorcas' face. "Ah huh, I thought as much. I have my spies within the order too, you know. Now let's save us all time and effort and tell me where he is."

"Never." She snarled.

"Crucio!" Blinding Pain.

"I said never!" she choked out of breath.

"Crucio!" Excruciating pain.

"No..." Was all she could manage as she watched his wand raise again.

"Crucio!" Searing pain.

She lay on the floor when it stopped, her mind slowly starting to work once more. Breathing heavily she looked up at the man she had worked so hard to bring to justice as she composed herself. "It is no use, Tom." Voldemort flinched at the use of his old name. "No amount of pain will make me tell you what you want to know. You know as well as I do, that this is a lost cause."

"Hmm unfortunately for you I believe you are telling the truth." He brought his face level with hers and starred daggers into her eyes. "One last chance to save your life, Dorcas. I can be a merciful master should I wish."

She spat in his face and screamed with as much malice as she could manage. "Go to hell!" Voldemort snarled and with one hand wiping his face and the other lifting his wand he snarled out the incantation. There was a flash of green light, and then nothing.


End file.
